Along with the flagship Classique Grande Sonnerie Métiers d’Art 1905 pocket watch, Breguet just announced its first water-resistant minute repeater, the Classique Répétition Minutes 7365. While this 250th anniversary edition with a Breguet gold case and Bleu de France grand feu enamel dial is limited to 25 examples, it likely represents the future of the brand’s chiming watches: smaller and more robust.

Initial Thoughts

Despite the strong popularity chiming watches have seen at the high end for many years, it has felt like something of a weak point for Breguet, reliant on rather old movements that didn’t always sound the best. The ambitious and wild Tradition Répétition Minutes Tourbillon 7087 promised to fix this in 2018, but for unknown reasons that watch never made it to market.

However, acoustically Breguet’s repeaters have become quite good despite the old bones, proving how key gongs and case construction are to repeaters. The 7087 doubles down on this approach, not even introducing a silent centrifugal governor which has become ubiquitous in modern chiming watches, even at the high end – the sound of which I’ve come to find quaint.

The move to smaller sizes, 42 mm to 39 might be more dictated by market trends rather than any specific vision from the brand, but is one I appreciate either way, and while water resistance isn’t strictly necessary in a chiming watch, the peace of mind is reassuring. In the end, this watch comes down to how much you like blue, and how palatable the strong – but not ridiculous – price is.

More Breguet gold

As with all of Breguet’s releases thus far, the Classique Répétition Minutes 7365 takes the bones of an existing movement (a once ubiquitous Lemania calibre in this case) and gives it a new look. The case takes after the Classique Souscription 2025 launched earlier this year, though with Quai de l’Horloge guilloche adorning the case band.

Like the Classique Souscription 2025, this new repeater sports a grand feu enamel dial with pantograph engraved secret signature, though this time in Bleu de France with applied Breguet gold Breguet numerals.

A precision repeater

This movement too includes some significant upgrades. While still hailing from the Lemania calibres of the 1980s – which in turn took after movements made around the turn of the century – it now includes a generous 75-hour power reserve, free-sprung balance and silicon overcoil hairspring.

The escape wheel and lever are also silicon, and given a Bleu de France treatment. Interestingly, Orient of all brands embellishes the colour of its silicon components in a similar fashion. It also bears the “Breguet civil hallmark” and self-certification similar to the Patek Philippe seal. Most importantly this means Breguet promises the watch will keep time to within two seconds per day, matching the high standard of Rolex.

Breguet uses white gold gongs, rather than steel as is typical, which are connected to the case instead of the movement. The logic being that this improves the sound of the repeater as the sound waves enjoy better resonance and propagation because the gongs and case are of like materials with similar density and structure. The case walls are also excavated, removing unneeded material that would otherwise deaden the sound.

Full Circle

The upper half of the breguet gold movement reproduces, the same scene presented on the pocket watch, Quai de l’Horloge street as seen from across the Seine, though rendered with less detail. Here, on the Île de la Cité and by the famous Pont-Neuf bridge, is where Breguet set down his roots.

The lower half of the movement paints the Vallée de Joux, the nexus of fine watchmaking  and home of the modern Breguet manufacture. Poetically, Abraham-Louis Breguet emigrated to Paris from Neuchâtel, so in a way Breguet’s move to Switzerland brings things full circle.

Key facts and price

Breguet Classique Répétition Minutes 7365
Ref. 7365BH/2Y/986

Diameter: 39.1 mm
Height: 10.8 mm
Material: 18k “Breguet” gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 1896
Functions: Hours, minutes, minute repeater
Winding: Manual wind
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 75 hours

Strap: Blue alligator, Breguet gold depolyant buckle

Limited edition: 25 pieces
Availability: At Breguet boutiques and retailers
Price: US$369,000

For more information, visit Breguet.com.